


watch and learn

by gloriousmonsters



Series: Earth 451 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Earth 451, M/M, Prompt Fic, jon is an anxious mess, oz has like supernatural levels of confidence, this could easily grow a pwp chapter i'll have to see how i feel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 18:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12173910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriousmonsters/pseuds/gloriousmonsters
Summary: If Jonathan Crane knows almost as intimately as fear, it's envy. (And sublimated sexual interest in said envy.)





	watch and learn

If Jonathan Crane knows one thing almost as intimately as fear, it's envy. 

Not usually for someone like this, however. You can tell at a glance what position Oswald Cobblepot would have held in school - the freak, too weird to be a nobody, too much of an obvious target for any group to claim as their own. And he carries the scars (the tight feral edge to his grin, his constant jittering awareness of every entrance and exit, the never-ending string of cigarettes he smokes) but he carries something else, too - a bizarre air of confidence. 

Jonathan briefly theorizes it might be chemically produced, but his eyes are too clear for that. It comes from somewhere else - god knew where, somewhere behind Oswald's bright birdlike eyes, and it lends him an almost ungodly amount of charisma. It's a thing of beauty to see Oswald flirt with people - see the person under the full weight of his attention turn flustered, stammering, and not understanding why. The common populace discounted the psychological side of attraction too much; they focus on Oswald's unconventional features, not his ability to gain power and hold it and make it look _easy_. 

It's an ability that escapes Jonathan; he's painfully aware of that. He's worked so hard, so long, created mask after mask (of cloth and of mind and manner, trying to hide old habits, obscure his past) and he still flinches at shadows. Still afraid. And every so often, someone still looks at him and he sees a hungry recognition in their eyes, the pleased glint of a predator sighting prey. It's an ugly weakness, and it compounds what already - well, wasn't particularly attractive. 

_Thank God in Heaven I don't look like that._ Another whisper he still flinches at. He wants nothing more, honestly, than to ask Oswald how he does it, but that's not the thing you can just ask someone. Possibly you could do it while drunk, but he's never been a drinking man, and Oswald sips cocktails with the delicacy of someone who knows they're an asshole when properly drunk. So instead he watches, in the Lounge and every time their paths cross outside of it. Watches every motion of his hands and listens to the cadence of his voice, analyzes every detail Oswald shows the world. 

The way this might backfire only occurs to him the night that Oswald approaches him in the Lounge, showing all his too-sharp teeth in a smile. "Tell me, Professor," he says, "am I an interesting subject?"

Jonathan considers denial for a moment, dismisses it. It's frustratingly difficult to calculate with Oswald's eyes on him, even though he can break his reaction down into its component parts, trace every piece back to its origin. Attraction is almost as hard to control as fear, and less reasonable in its focus. "You've clearly overcome many disadvantages to get to where you are," he says. "I admire that."

"Mm. You've been... admiring it almost nightly, the past week." Oswald's hands are somewhat restless; he's making an effort not to smoke tonight. Another little mystery. "Why haven't you tried coming over to my table and admiring it up close?"

Jonathan hesitates, trying to choose his words carefully. He manages to not stutter. "We're allies, in a way, but not exactly friends. I thought it'd likely be an imposition."

Oswald's grin returns. "What are allies but friends we have not sufficiently cultivated? And a visit from you, my dear Professor, would hardly be an imposition." He lowers himself into the chair next to Jonathan. "Shall I buy you a drink? Not particularly alcoholic, of course, I know you're not a drinking man."

So it had gone both ways. Jonathan couldn't keep envy from entering his voice. Envy and - well, perhaps a little something else. "You make it look so damn easy."

Oswald doesn't ask what, just tilts his head. "It takes time," he says, a note to his voice that makes Jonathan bristle slightly. The gap of years between him and Oswald was too slight for that kind of patronizing tone. "Watch and learn, Jonathan. You'll get it eventually."

He makes the kiss seem easy too, soft and almost chaste. His scarred fingertips brush Jonathan's cheek as if they're on a date or something, and the whole thing is surreal enough Jonathan goes with it for a moment, forgets what they'd been doing a moment before. By the time he remembers, he's practically in Oswald's lap and he gets the feeling that anyone sober in the Lounge is probably staring at them. He pulls back, but represses the urge to look around and cringe down in his seat. Oswald gives a small, approving nod. 

"That's a start," he says.


End file.
